Strongest Life, final

Let's wrap up our look at some bits from Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham.

I wasn't really surprised to hear that multitasking isn't good for us - that it drops our IQ. I know that feeling of divided attention where a lot of things are getting done, but few if any are done well. I was surprised, though, that Mr. Buckingham thinks our quest for "balance" is off target. In his opinion, we should skew our lives toward our strengths, our strong moments. If we build more of those into our lives, we will have the energy we need for the things that aren't our strongest but have to be done anyway, and the things that don't have to be done will fall off our to do lists in time because we are doing the things that strengthen us most. This ties in nicely with the discussion about Sabbath and about learning to say no to some things so you can say yes to the things that matter most.

If you go here, you can take the Strong Life Test for free and find out what your leading and supporting roles are. You will need a copy of the book to find out what they mean and how to apply them. I came out with a Lead Role of Motivator and Supporting Role of Creator. When I first read those words, I was not convinced - not when other choices were Teacher or Caretaker or Advisor. But when I read the descriptions, I was more convinced. I have been writing a lot lately about my passions and philosophy of life and some of those things were reflected in these terms and their descriptions. Now I am spending time looking at specific activities in my life that are "strong moments" and figuring out how to have more of them.

Hope you have enjoyed thinking about finding your strongest life! Let me know what you find out if you try the test!

Strongest Life, part 2

Okay, let's jump in a little farther with Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham.

This is how he defines a "strong woman."

*A strong woman feels successful - effective and capable.
*A strong woman instinctively looks forward to tomorrow with positive anticipation. She has a gut-level sense of being on the right track and enjoying the ride, bumps and all.
*A strong woman feels she is still learning and growing, no matter her age. She operates in the "flow," meaning a sense of focus, ability to concentrate, getting lost in a task and losing the sense of time. [This reminds me of how my son is with drums. He plays at least once or twice a day and loses himself in what he is doing. With the piano, there is NO flow - only fidgeting, and stalling.]
*A strong woman feels that her needs are fulfilled.
[from chapter 4, Signs of Life]

So, do these describe you? Every day or just some days? Can you think of things you do during the course of the week that would fit this idea of "flow?"

Strongest Life, part 1

Yesterday I reviewed a book at another blog called Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham. It was a great book for women about determining your strengths and strongest moments and playing to those. There is a LOT of good information in the book, so I thought I would highlight three parts this week here.

Today, I want to set the stage with some of the research reported in the book.
*Women are less happy today relative to where they were 40 years ago (and relative to men)
*Women begin their lives more satisfied than men and then gradually become less satisfied in every aspect of their lives.
*Each extra hour of free time doubles a man's feelings of relaxation, but does nothing for a woman's.
*Your IQ drops 10 points when you try to do two tasks at the same time.

So, what do you think about those things. Do they surprise you? They sure surprised me! Why do you think these things might be true?